WBO2014: Blown57

[Mad Ax 9310]

OK, so having ranted and raved about the 2014 Winter Build-Off for so long, I decided it was time to stop being lazy and get started with my build thread!

Officially I started building on 1st Dec but I've been too lazy to figure out how to get the photos off my phone and onto the net.

The History

2012, Tamiyaclub meet, a big RC-related jumble and one of the best days out I've had in ages, and I came home with an impulse-bought Parma '57 Chevy on a Kyosho RWD chassis. I kept it for a couple of months before realising I had too many projects, and sold it on - then immediately regretted it. While some Parma shells can be a bit jelly-mould in appearance and have only a passing resemblance to the model on the label, the '57 Chevy is actually quite a good replica. It comes in 3 parts - central cabin, separate rear bumper, and separate front section, meaning it's possible to make a removable flip front, if that's your style.

A few months back I popped into my LHS and spotted an NIP '57 shell lying in a corner. Unable to get it out of my head, I went back in two days later and bought it. Then stuck it up on the top shelf in the garage and forgot about it...

Many, many years ago I also bought a much abused and modified CC01 Pajero off another TCer. I didn't like the hacked up Paj shell, so I discarded it to the spares box, lengthened the CC01 and fitted a tatty Bruiser shell, and crawled it until the gears exploded. For the past year it's sat on the Project shelf waiting to be rebuilt.

The Concept

Knowing I had a '57 shell and a good scale chassis with IFS front and solid rear axle, I decided to hunt around to see what film cars I could be inspired by. A search on IMCDB pulled up Running On Empty, a 1982 film about an Australian street racer and his battle to be the fastest on the streets. It features a bunch of cool cars, not least - a modified '57 Chevy!

The film itself is pretty poor, with bad acting, bad dialog and absurd plot, all of which I could forgive if there was some good vehicular action - but this is no Mad Max. Stunts are cut in and out quickly, but not quick enough to hide the glaringly obvious "stooge car explosion" effect. Races are over in less than the 12 seconds they are supposed to last. The cars are cool but there's not enough focus on them to really enjoy that either. Films have come a long way since 1982!

So - enough waffle - here's some links to pics of the '57 Chevy (from web search and IMCDB):

From the film

http://www.imcdb.org/i081423.jpg

http://pics.imcdb.org/0is165/1957chevroletxxxxb8pz.9602.jpg

http://yuq.me/users/11/808/3Nta1n8Jfu.png

non-film pic, probably a replica

http://www.rigsofrods.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=413112&d=1373494226

replica:

http://s23.photobucket.com/user/solidc10/media/0c0079f6.jpg.html

[Mad Ax 9310]

Author's Note

Apologies for my complete inability to show the images here. I've followed every tutorial I can find about how to use images from dropbox and all seem to be related to an older version of dropbox. I did briefly have this working on scale4x4rc but TC doesn't seem to like the links..

The Build

The build started with a quick stripdown of the CC01 and a layout of the chassis against the freshly-cut '57 shell.

This should have been all the hard work done - the rest of it simply trimming the chassis, fitting shorter shocks making shorter 4-links and bolting it all together. However it was about this time that I started wondering how much better it would look if I started hacking at the front suspension to make it more authentic. Before I knew what I was doing, I'd started making a ladder chassis out of styrene...

First thing to do was to figure out how to mount the CC01 arms - and it turns out, it's quite easy. The CC01 skidpan couples as the bottom arm mount, it comes away in one piece (mine has previously been butchered for better clearance when crawling) and it easily accepts a custom bit of styrene. Upper arms mount to metal balls which are easily screwed into just about anything. An inverted triangle design acts as a front shock tower and will eventually double-up as the front of a scale V8 engine.

And that's pretty much were I'd got to a week ago. To continue further I needed more styrene box section, so the project went on hold while I waited patiently by the postbox...

[Mad Ax 9310]

So today I came back to the project with renewed enthusiasm and a bag full of styrene. I knew that trying to make a ladder chassis by eye was doing to end in disaster, so I took a couple of attempts and made a chassis plan that will eventually act as a jig. Ultimately I expect this to be ruined once I start pinning and gluing things which is a shame, as I'd quite like to mount it on the wall behind where the finished product will sit.

As I've got older and (a bit) more patient I've come to realise the value of both planning and inspiration. I wish my usual RC work area had a bunch of screens in front of it - this is my studio desk.

[Mad Ax 9310]

A typical hotrod ladder chassis is a fairly square affair, but there needs to be a curve to clear the rear axle. I spent a long time deliberating - should I chop box section into little segments to make a compound curve? Should I ignore the curve and straight lines with approx. 60 degree angles? Eventually I decided to abandon the box section for the over-axle curve and make side plates out of styrene sheet - since I was going to gusset all my corners with styrene sheet anyway, this wasn't going to be much different but ultimately look better. I used 1.5mm as it's strong enough without being too hard to cut; then I cheated and used the scroll saw in my fiance's workshop.

I made a rough sketch, cut it out in paper and traced it onto the styrene sheet.

The scroll saw tends to melt styrene; the result needs a lot of sanding.

All four pieces clamped together so they all get sanded to the same size.

Well, that's taken me pretty much all day. (OK, I'll admit, I spent 90 minutes trying to work out how to link images from dropbox before giving up and going with photobucket, and it took me 30 minutes to vacuum up all the plastic swarf from my sanding efforts).

Hopefully I'll have some evenings free to start cutting out the chassis rails and join them to the axle curves. The plan is to fill the space between the curves with box section so it's good and strong, and then maybe cover the box with very thin sheet or fill it so it looks like a custom-welded box section.

After that I have to made a decision on rear suspension - currently I have 3 options:

1) make a set of links with a panhard rod and fit coil overs, like most custom-chassis rods have these days

2) use a set of Delrin leafs that I bought for a Losi MRC project which I decided to 4-link instead

3) make my own Delrin leafs on the scroll saw. Not sure if my scroll saw will cut Delrin without melting it; not sure if I have the patience to use a coping saw.

[Theibault 1535]

This is looking real good. Can't wait to see more!

[Zac_F83 117]

Following! Never seen a RHD 57 before it's a little weird haha - I too plan to make a Parma 57 Chevy here but a gasser w/ a straight axle instead. Here is my last fall project - Traxxas Slash 2wd I converted to on road drag car duties with Parma's new Muscle 71 body (1971 Dodge Demon which I own a 1:1 71 Demon)

I plan to use a RC4WD tail stomper chassis as it's leaf sprung front and rear, and bolt up a 1/14 truck front axle

[bromvw 744]

liking this concept a lot - so much so i might do a Chevy like the one in American Graffiti at some point but not for the build off though . Re the chassis i would certainly box it for the same reason they do on the real thing - chassis flex . I would also go with links and panhard rod /coil overs as its more authentic - and ultimately easier to do . it also looks as if i need to up my game on my own winter build lol

[Mad Ax 9310]

Following! Never seen a RHD 57 before it's a little weird haha - I too plan to make a Parma 57 Chevy here but a gasser w/ a straight axle instead. Here is my last fall project - Traxxas Slash 2wd I converted to on road drag car duties with Parma's new Muscle 71 body (1971 Dodge Demon which I own a 1:1 71 Demon)

That's a neat project - love the attitude on that drag beast

I'm afraid I don't know a huge amount about hot rods and their various types; I looked up "57 chevy chassis" on google images and found a whole bunch of custom-built chassis (like the one in my photo). There seems to be an even mix of leaf spring and panhard rod so I'm not sure which would be more pure to the style of car I'm doing. Links will probably be a little easier, especially if I make a rigid link bracket from Delrin or similar to reduce the flop and slop one always gets in rod ends...

[mr crispy 2293]

Great choice of build Mad Ax. Looking forward to seeing this come to life.

[emory70 153]

Bromvw, just in case you didn't know, the "American Graffiti 55 was also the same exact car that was in 2 Lane Blacktop. In my opinion, it was a much better looking car in its first appearance

[kontemax 1725]

Where did you find this '57 body, please?

What brand makes it?

It is amazing!!!

Max

[Mad Ax 9310]

Hi Max, it's made by Parma and is one of their better bodies - it's a 3-piece design and 200mm wide so need wide wheels or bigger hexes for most Tamiya chassis.

Tower Hobbies list them but if you search "parma 57 chevy body" you should find plenty of links.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXRH39

Not much else to report - I started on the rear links earlier this week but have been busy with Christmas stuff, hopefully tomorrow I'll have a good afternoon on it

[bromvw 744]

Bromvw, just in case you didn't know, the "American Graffiti 55 was also the same exact car that was in 2 Lane Blacktop. In my opinion, it was a much better looking car in its first appearance

Lol i have both films on DVD and i agree . In 2 Lane Blacktop it had a raw more aggressive appearance - pure street racer .

[kontemax 1725]

Thank you!

Max

Hi Max, it's made by Parma and is one of their better bodies - it's a 3-piece design and 200mm wide so need wide wheels or bigger hexes for most Tamiya chassis.

Tower Hobbies list them but if you search "parma 57 chevy body" you should find plenty of links.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXRH39

Not much else to report - I started on the rear links earlier this week but have been busy with Christmas stuff, hopefully tomorrow I'll have a good afternoon on it

[Mad Ax 9310]

So it's been a busy few weeks, but I haven't stopped working on this in the background. Here's an update on what I've been up to

After making the rear axle overs, next thing was to start mocking up the chassis rails. At this stage I hadn't worked out rear suspension arrangements or anything so I was really making it up as I went along.

Axle overs glued to chassis rails

[Mad Ax 9310]

I then started to think about how to attach the CC01 axle to the rails. Keep it simple but bulky with a 4-link? Go uber-simple with non-independent suspension? Make a fixed trailing arm assembly and try to achieve articulation with flex in the links, to simulate a fluid bush setup? In the end I went with my last option.

I spent a few days making these links:

[Mad Ax 9310]

Now, perhaps somewhat predictably, there was not enough flex in the links to make them do what I wanted - they were never going to articular at all. All a bit too Grasshopper for what I was trying to achieve.

In retrospect I could have redesigned them to have a more fluid connection to the axle, but I was already well into my festive break and running out of time for the serious chassis work that would have to follow, so I decided to go with the simplest option of all: stick with stock CC01 rear links. If I decide to replace with custom links later, fine, but at least it will get my axle hung so I can get on with the rest of the build.

[Mad Ax 9310]

I thought I'd taken more pics of the rear suspension in progress, but I can't find them... You'll see more details in the next shots tho.

So, rear axle hung and articulating, it was time at last to bring the back and the front together:

Good shot of rear suspension here - it really does work well, plenty enough articulation for a street car (shocks will limit travel) and scale enough appearance for now. My lovely shock towers won't fit the CC01 shock mounts but if I have time I will cut some new custom shock mounts like I did for my CC01 BFX, and cut custom lower links to get rid of the nasty plastic links (and negate all the hard work I did filing down the axle case to allow the CC01 links to run parallel).

[Mad Ax 9310]

And finally, all glued and trued on the chassis plan:

[Mad Ax 9310]

So where do I go from here?

Next step for me is to mount the gearbox. I spent most of yesterday trying to decide what tranny to use. My first plan was to cut the CC01 tranny out of the chassis, but it would leave gaping holes because of the redundant front transfer box, not easy to seal up or mount. I considered using a chopped Grasshopper gearbox, going for true scales with the motor right up front, gearbox underneath and using a modded flange linked to a very short propshaft under the back - but a) it's way too big for the chassis and 2) it turns the wrong way with the motor up front, so I'd have to flip the axle upside down.

I went through my chassis stockpile, pulling out a TA01, Monster Beetle, even an unused AX10 tranny that I got for a Clod Bod 2.2 project... then I saw an old Reign K2-S chassis that I'd almost turned into a TLT-based F150 many moons ago, but abandoned when the scale world moved on to proper ladder chassis. Bolted to its central plate was a chopped 'pede tranny.

Wow - K2-S chassis, TLT axles, 'pede tranny, that's like a shopping list of all that was golden in the scale world 8 years ago, right..?

Anyway, the 'pede tranny had never been run (apart from a test-drive around my old living room when I first bolted up the axles) but it had some awful wobble in the spur gear, so bad it was noticeable in the motor tone when driving along a flat surface. I'd pretty much forgotten I'd had it. A closer look reveals that the wobble seems to be in the slipper rather than the shaft, so it should be fixable, and besides, it's going to need a much smaller spur to make up for the CC01 diff ratio.

I offered the whole thing up to the chassis and it's a perfect match - as if by chance it fits right over the joining plate I'd made to connect front and rear chassis halves. Righteous

Hopefully I'll work out the shock mounts over the next few days and have more pics next week

[zomboided 374]

Really interesting build (and yeah, lovely shell too)

How are you building strength into the chassis? Are you not worried that it'll break across the joins?

[Mad Ax 9310]

To be honest, it's not going to be built as a runner. I build my "pretty" cars to sit on the shelf. If it runs under its own power and doesn't fall apart under its own weight, I'll call it "mission accomplished"

However I am going to brace and gusset the key stress areas once the chassis is complete. I haven't done so yet because adjustments will still have to be made for the propshaft.

It's got a bit of twist so it's never going to be able to withstand big torque, but there again, big-power hotrods have a tendency to twist off the line. ("So much torque, the chassis twists on take-off" - Dom Torretto, The Fast And The Furious).

A few years back I started work on a scale car trailer made from the same styrene - it was only intended for shelf duties and very very light running, so provided it could withstand the weight of a touring car + battery and electrics I was happy. A week after making it functional (technically I never finished it), my local race club put on a fun "caravan" night. I didn't have a caravan so I taped a cardboard box to my beautiful car new trailer and ran it in the A heat. I was told by everyone that it would be going home in pieces - but it survived with only a few scratches on the corners. It even went up against a caravan made from plywood. At that time I hadn't properly finished the A-frame so I hacked something real quick out of UPVC cable trunking, which broke away at the end of the night because the glue wasn't compatible, but the main body of the chassis is still on my shelf exactly as it was when I took it racing.

I also made a styrene rear cage for my bobbed SCX-10 Yota, I haven't put up any photos as (once again) it was hacked together real quick in a couple of nights before a day out at a good crawling spot, and it held up so well I never bothered to finish it. It survived that day, and then another day playing on the mountain at RadshapeRC. I had a couple of big rolls, including a high-speed fall off the log bridge that dropped it off the table and upside down onto the concrete floor. The original vintage Yota cab cracked where it had previously been repaired and the home-made cab rear pulled away from the cab, but the rear cage is like new.

I'd never have attempted this chassis build if my trailer and Yota cage hadn't stood up so well to proper abuse but I have proved that styrene can be used to make good, solid structures if the structure has a sound design with sufficient triangulation and bracing at the joins.

[Mad Ax 9310]

I decided to grab some shots of my trailer and Yota for reference Neither are finished projects but both are structurally sound. Note the trailer doesn't actually have any triangulation but it does have lots of fairly tough styrene sheet glued across its frame which gives it incredible stiffness across the X and Y axes.

(please note I'm not an engineer of any sort, so apologies if my terminology is incorrect)

[Mad Ax 9310]

Wow, has it really been that long..?

I have been working a little bit here and there when I can, unfortunately (and quite predictably) things have not entirely gone to plan when it comes to RC projects and I've been really short of time to really crack on with this. January is almost done and I still don't have a completed chassis, so I thought I'd best do a progress update now before it slips completely off the radar.

So things seemed to be going very smoothly, apart from the rear shock mounts being in the wrong place for the stock CC01 links. I probably should have put some effort in and made new links and shock mounts, but that requires going up into the outside workshop which, this time of year, is a horrid, damp, cold place to be, made worse by the fact that despite being big enough to store a motorhome in and still have room to work on it, it's currently filled to bursting with all my fiance's junk and I can barely move in there.

But I digress!!

The rear shock problem was solved by gluing some extra plates on to the axle hoops and putting a supporting bar between them.

I then moved onto the steering servo, which required a bit of thought and is in a very precarious place. I wanted to mount it behind the front shock tower but even with a lo-pro servo it was going to cause issues with the transmission. CC01 steering hubs won't to forward-of-axle steering without hitting the shocks, so I dismantled a perfectly good TL01 project which has been sat unfinished for years and borrowed its steering arms. I've got a bunch of spares to replace it with but they're up in the aforementioned workshop on the shelf with all the spiders on.

I neglected to take any pics of this processes but you can see how it looks with servo, shocks and wheels mounted here:

As predicted, there's a fair bit of flex in the chassis but still some work to do before it's done yet.

Here's a closeup of the steering installation. Here it's running under-axle steering links, which turned out to be a bad idea...

So it's about this time that the whole project started to seriously unravel. I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve with the front of the chassis, and exactly how I was going to do it, but when I came to fit it up, the steering links were in the way. But never mind, a bit of fiddling with screws and it all started to take shape. Fortunately the steering links will fit above the axle without fouling the servo housing, shocks, chassis or anything else that looks like it should be right in the way. Result.

tbc...

[Mad Ax 9310]

So, my front of chassis... Let's refer back to one of my original inspiration pics. This isn't the actual car from Fast Lane Fever (unless it's had different plates), but it's a very good replica - and like the movie car it has the front bumper, lower grille section and part of the panelwork removed, so the leading edge of the chassis pokes out where the bumper should go. I knew I could achieve this fairly easily using the chassis I'd made so far.

Once the steering links were relocated, I came up with this:

It still needs some tidying up, and the tube diameter is bigger than that on the 1:1, but I was working with what I had available and what was going to support the weight. The black upright piece is eventually going to attach to the bonnet and grille section of the body (remember it's a 3-piece) and...

...it swivels!!

So, just like the 1:1 inspiration car, the entire bonnet section should tilt forward to reveal the engine and transmission underneath.

tbc...